For many travelers (especially those who like to bring their laptop along with them), Skype is a godsend, as it allows you to make free phone (and video) calls to other Skype users (provided you have a WiFi\/internet connection). As you travel you\u2019ll find that most internet caf\u00e9s have all their computers set with Skype on them (and a headset for you to speak into), meaning it\u2019s easy to call home with Skype even if you don\u2019t want to bring your laptop along with you. With Skype you can also make phone calls (from your computer) to landlines or call phones, although you\u2019ll have to pay for it (typically between $0.02 and $0.20 per minute).
\nSo what\u2019s the catch? The only real downside of using Skype is that you need a pretty decent internet connection to make calls with it, so if you internet connection is slow you won\u2019t be able to understand the person on the other end. Although a lot of hostels offer free WiFi these days (which is handy if you want to use Skype), the speed of their internet is typically very slow (because a lot of other people will be using it). This can therefore affect the quality of the signal (especially when making video calls).<\/p>\n